it's true

this year's champions will be one of the worst in a long time

3/6/2011 3:16:57 PM

Dirk Kuyt is a hero in North London and Manchester today

3/6/2011 4:16:01 PM

ncsuftw1 or NyM410 could be heroes in this thread today if they would do what is morally right

3/6/2011 4:19:03 PM

^ban hockey fans from this thread?

3/6/2011 4:23:53 PM

3/6/2011 4:37:51 PM

FA again dropping the ball on post-match bans with Carra's tackle

3/7/2011 9:10:23 AM

is so it's like

3/7/2011 1:54:37 PM

Come on Blackpool

3/7/2011 1:58:08 PM

^

3/7/2011 2:55:48 PM

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/football/03/08/football.premier.league.tour/

Says it's coming to the US in 2013...no hints on what cities or what dates yet.

3/8/2011 9:48:27 AM

the trophy? who gives a fuck


in other news, Spurs is going to have Under Armour jerseys next year

3/8/2011 9:51:13 AM

Seriously. There's only one trophy that I would ever want to touch, could have touched, but would never touch, and that's the Stanley Cup.

3/9/2011 7:51:12 PM

Other crap coming with the show besides the trophy. I remember they did this a couple years ago and had a piece on Fox Soccer about it. The turn out at the events in the US was good and looked like it would be a fun time. If it came nearby I would go just for the sake of going.

I wish the EPL would play some games in the US, even if they were just exhibitions. I doubt any would come anywhere near Raleigh...

3/9/2011 9:09:09 PM

Quote :

"Spurs is going to have Under Armour jerseys next year"

I was actually coming in to post this. There was rumor of it a few months back and I'm actually kind of glad that they went that direction after some thought. The Puma kits are just meh (especially the neckline) so this is a step up imo.

Since this is their first EPL team as well, they are going to be trying to hook the kit up big time to attract more clubs. I can't wait to see what they look like.

3/9/2011 9:22:42 PM

^^they do, but usually only in big cities. i went to man utd vs juventus in new york in like 2003 or something.

this summer, bolton came and played against the charlotte eagles at uncc. that was pretty sweet, owen coyle was standing right next to me. i wasn't star struck though.

[Edited on March 9, 2011 at 9:25 PM. Reason : s]

3/9/2011 9:24:42 PM

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/892055/ashley-cole-escapes-charge-over-shooting---reports?cc=5901

swept under the rug...

3/10/2011 3:20:25 AM

^^ There was talk a few years ago of the EPL playing regular season league games in the US but I don't know what ever happened with that. Seems like the just stopped talking about it.

I wasn't following EPL in 2003 so I wasn't aware of that. Didn't know about Bolton this past summer either or I would have looked into going. I did hear they are supposed to come play the Houston Dynamo this summer due to the Holden connection there.

3/10/2011 8:47:51 AM

^^

Quote :

"Cowan did not press charges"

3/10/2011 9:48:30 AM

Szczesny out for 6 weeks, Fabianski out for the rest of the season. Leaves it to Almunia to help win the league and/or FA Cup. I think Mannone is going to get called back from Hull City just so they can fill the bench.

3/11/2011 8:53:04 AM

congratulations are in order to United for their 19th league championship

3/11/2011 9:08:26 AM

Well looks like Mannone is injured too. I like Wenger's approach to building a team internally without spending boatloads on big names but sometimes you have to spend some money to build a strong team. It was obvious before the season started that Arsenal's GK situation was not the best. Luckily Szczesny came on strong for a while but with his injury and Almunia's inconsistency, the lack of spending money on a good GK when he could is biting Wenger in the ass now.

3/11/2011 11:45:51 AM

Hahahah this is hilarious

http://www.thegoalkeeperco.com/Szczesny-father-punches-mancini.aspx

3/12/2011 7:57:43 AM

That was horrible.

3/12/2011 9:18:06 AM

ABU fans......









u mad?

3/12/2011 1:54:43 PM

Start up the Arsenal excuse engine

3/12/2011 2:02:08 PM

nah I'm not even watching

don't care

3/12/2011 2:13:12 PM

Woot.

3/12/2011 2:21:41 PM

Quote :

"Wenger 'I feel the pitch was good, the ref was good and the tackles of Paul Scholes were bad'"

LOL

3/12/2011 2:56:19 PM

he needs to be mad at Sagna

3/12/2011 3:55:39 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKJRKdSlweU

3/16/2011 11:59:12 AM

Fergie hit with a 5 match ban and 30,000 pound fine

I wonder if he'll think twice before bitching about the officials to the press again. Probably not.

[Edited on March 16, 2011 at 6:24 PM. Reason : swept under the rug?]

3/16/2011 6:10:47 PM

should be docking some points instead of a fine....

3/16/2011 6:30:50 PM

so a 5 match ban and 30000 pound fine is "swept under the rug" now?

3/16/2011 6:47:59 PM

nah, i just wanted to use the thread's new buzz phrase

3/16/2011 7:02:00 PM

haha, good. i was wondering what you thought would be fair then.

3/16/2011 7:02:49 PM

death by firing squad, IMO

3/16/2011 7:03:16 PM

Holy shit. LOL

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6224505/fulham-english-premier-league-erect-michael-jackson-statue

3/16/2011 7:05:15 PM

LOL. epic.

United could erect a sculpture of Nani to match!

3/16/2011 8:27:25 PM

I think you guys might like this quote. It helps explain why soccer is misunderstood in this country, but why real fans of the game, like ourselves, are drawn to it.

Quote :

"“The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.”"

[Edited on March 16, 2011 at 9:41 PM. Reason : I hope this doesn't open a can of worms]

3/16/2011 9:40:43 PM

Arsene Wenger is that you?

3/16/2011 9:46:52 PM

I agree with that quote in general but if it's your favorite team, you really don't give a shit how they win games

3/16/2011 9:52:23 PM

^^ lol

^ I agree. I guess I was just pointing out that it's not all wins and losses in how teams are judged in this sport. Inter won the treble last year, but in the most boring fashion possible and imo it detracted from that achievement a little bit. They "parked the bus" as Jose says, which is exactly what that quote hates on.

[Edited on March 16, 2011 at 10:08 PM. Reason : .]

3/16/2011 10:04:01 PM

yeah, the problem is a large majority of parents/coaches don't understand the nuances of the game and don't teach them to their kids when they're growing up playing soccer. It's all about kicking it far, chasing after the ball, and scoring goals. And for a long time, media coverage was the same kind of thing, although not quite that dumbed down, but instead of trying to educate, it just told you to go do it on your own by watching teams like Brazil

I mean, the people that really care eventually get good coaching or care enough to search out other outlets to learn the sport on their own. I'm sure it'll get better with each generation

[Edited on March 16, 2011 at 10:11 PM. Reason : .]

3/16/2011 10:10:51 PM

u right

3/16/2011 10:32:11 PM

thx

3/16/2011 10:39:00 PM

So do you pick a team in each of the Euro leagues or is that like having a favorite team in every BCS conference?

3/16/2011 11:43:58 PM

What, specifically, are you talking about?

3/17/2011 12:03:08 AM

As a fan... do people generally stick with one team, no matter the league, or do they pull for teams in multiple Euro leagues. If you like Chelsea is it plausible to also like Barcelona and Lyons, Real Madrid and OM, Inter and Munich, etc. Or is it like EPL = ACC, LaLiga = SEC, Bundas = Big10, etc. so you really don't like the clubs from other leagues.

(new to soccer, just getting a feel for the fan culture)

3/17/2011 12:40:25 AM

Quote :

". Or is it like EPL = ACC, LaLiga = SEC, Bundas = Big10, etc. so you really don't like the clubs from other leagues"

More like this I would say. Most of us here are EPL fans because that's the league we get the most exposure from and pull for one team. likes to pull for all teams when they're winning.

That's not to say that you can't be a fan of a team in another league though. I don't think there's a person among us who dislike watching Barcelona play and have a huge appreciation for their style. Doesn't mean they're my favorite team though.

I like Tottenham but I enjoy watching Arsenal, ManU, and a bit of City when they're playing well.

3/17/2011 1:10:12 AM

yeah, I'd say it's generally one team/one league. Since you're not hammered with soccer in the US, it takes effort to stay up to date on a league's players/news so there's not many who "follow" multiple leagues, especially leagues in non-English speaking countries.

I wish Bundesliga was more popular and I wish GolTV was in the sports package on TWC so I could watch it

3/17/2011 7:40:05 AM